Intestinal metaplasia is the transformation (metaplasia

Metaplasia

Metaplasia is the reversible replacement of one differentiated cell type with another mature differentiated cell type. The change from one type of cell to another may generally be a part of normal maturation process or caused by some sort of abnormal stimulus...

) of epithelium

Epithelium

Epithelium is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. Epithelial tissues line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body, and also form many glands. Functions of epithelial cells include secretion, selective...

, usually of the stomach

Stomach

The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...

, to a type that bears some resemblance to the intestine

Intestine

In human anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine...

. Initially, the transformed eptithelium bears resemblance to the small intestine

Small intestine

The small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach and followed by the large intestine, and is where much of the digestion and absorption of food takes place. In invertebrates such as worms, the terms "gastrointestinal tract" and "large intestine" are often used to...

; in the later stages, the epithelium resembles the colon

Colon (anatomy)

The colon is the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body, and is the site in which flora-aided fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a...

. It is characterized by the appearance of goblet cells.

It is considered to be a risk factor for the development of adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma is a cancer of an epithelium that originates in glandular tissue. Epithelial tissue includes, but is not limited to, the surface layer of skin, glands and a variety of other tissue that lines the cavities and organs of the body. Epithelium can be derived embryologically from...

.

External links

• Intestinal metaplasia (definition) - mondofacto.com.